42 A COMPUTER FOR SCHOOL "SAVE FRANCE"

" Ugh ... I do not know if you can call '42 a school . Unless we take the etymology of the word ' school ', which means a place of study . But 42 is not a school traditional sense. " Nicolas Sadirac password skillful hand through his shoulder-length hair , the ruffles and replace. He casually scratching his stubble .

No pants , no shirt , no tie . For the official return , Tuesday, Nov. 19 , of the free school of Xavier Niel, the founder and CEO of 42 donned the shirt with the image of the magic number . As all " staff" of 42. Nicolas Sadirac impressed by his stature but also his thinking : " Here, 42 is the answer to the question of life." But "42" is also a reference to "geek" . In this case, it is the answer to " the big question about life, the universe and everything " in the book " The Guide to the Galaxy " by Douglas Adams. What a program!

Pool heat

Parisian gray fall around the jet black building 42. Here, the simplicity is the key word . Discretion as well. Nothing confirms the barges of the 17th arrondissement of Paris that this great building contains a combination of technologies .

To enter the school , rising only a few steps . No flames . No gimmicks . No screens . Nothing reminds computer . The lobby is simple . Cold. "Under Construction . "

But the " students," them " feel the heat ," says Steven , 25. " The depression has no place now. Can not wait to start . "

Glasses on his nose , blond hair, Steven had "never coded anything before trying the ' competition ' 42" : "I was studying management quality, safety and the environment has nothing to do with . iT. But it is a passion. computing , internet, video games. " Where does this "heat" then? " In the pool, which allowed students to be selected and to meet. "

No oral , not written . 42 prefer " the pool ." For a month , hundreds of students must complete projects.

The morning we arrived , we turned on the computer. A video showed us what we should do. It was ' hardcore' , horrible and hard. He had to either adapt or die. But it was great, " Steven continues , with a smile , proud and happy.

"It is very important that students work in groups of 42 ," says Marie Bedel , petite blonde and a member of the management team of 42 . "This is one of the criteria of our training , as in a business, you can not work alone. The concept is fundamental. "

A den, a home

In the premises of 42, the class does not exist . Instead, open corridors on three large rooms filled with 300 computers, all iMac.

On the ground floor, the room was called " Metropolis ." On the first floor , " Westeros " . On the second floor , " Tatooine ." References to science fiction and fantasy are legions to 42. "This is our culture," replied Nicolas Sadirac , tone amused. "This is our creativity. "


The teacher does not exist . The term is banned for life. " We are 42 coaches , the guys from the staff ," says Kwame Yamgnane , former Deputy Epitech and a big guy who is approaching two meters in height director . All staff members , incidentally, just Epitech , a computer school private education group Ionis . " The project we raced . And we wanted to create a free school . "

The school has 880 students this year to free training for three years continuously.

" No holiday organized , no class council ," said Fabienne Haas, communications officer 42 . " Students need to organize the project deadlines . Everything is free but it should be there. " And for that, 42 does not sleep . The building is open at all hours of the day and night . From Sunday to Monday. An anthill. A den . A home.

" It became in no time our house ," and tell Remi " Gundz " ( a nickname ) . The first is a tall, lanky brown came from Montpellier. The second is described as a survivor of school failure :

I think I have accumulated nearly 400 hours of absences each year in college , " he says , a cigarette in his mouth .

"Here is an opportunity to build. 42 is a community. Students meet, help . Competition does not exist ," he says . " Participating in this project , a free school , it changes the current system. "

" Students learn better without prof"

The core 42 is in its educational project . " Training the best computer scientists in France and elsewhere," says Nicolas Sadirac . Strong man and focused on education , the current CEO of 42 is the former founder and former professor Epitech Epita , two large computer schools . " With 42, we still have more freedom than before. Because the school is free, " the students all come from very different backgrounds , "said Marie Bedel . " We have 40% of students who have not tray . It has nothing to do with students who are able to pay a private 5,000 euros per school year " A Gundz to string " . Teaching is much better than elsewhere. Nothing to do with the college where you are sitting at the bottom of the class to listen to bullshit your teacher . "

For 20 years, Nicolas Sadirac refines a particular teaching method : "I realized that students learn better without teachers The faculty brings only negative Firstly, because the student has lost confidence in the ratings. . the teacher . Secondly, because the student finds no motivation and does not understand the traditional method of teaching . "

So Nicolas Sadirac , experimenting with his team , has decided to put the students in a situation right now with the challenges and projects.

Students must demonstrate initiative , ingenuity and creativity to achieve their goals. This method produces exceptional results. Moreover, they must constantly learn from others and participate in the evaluation of all , " he says .


Nicolas Sadirac briefly summarizes the philosophy behind 42 : "We want to save France Or at least get the patch to digitize the French economy. ".